Steam-plow



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. Steam Plow, l 236,771; Y v*Patented Jan. V18, 188|.

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g Steam Plow'. No. 236,771. Patented Jan. 18, |881.

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Steam Plow. No. 236,771,- .Patntedlam 18,1881.

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`UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EPHRAIM BROWN, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

l STEAM-PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,771, dated January18, 1881.

Application filed April 8, 1880. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EPHRAIM BROWN, of Lowell, Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful Steam-Plow, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in plows moved and actuated bysteam-engines; and the object of my'improvement is to provide asteam-plow which shall, without the use of chains or ropes extendingacross the field, move its plows a much greater distance in a given timethan the body of the engine driving it. I attain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure l is a plan view of my device. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the frame carrying the plows, With theplows and connected parts.

A is the frame on which an engine is placed. o. is the boiler of theengine; a', the cylinder; O, the crank-shaft; D, theshaft connected bymeans of the gears cc' c2 c3 c4 c5 with the shaft C. This shaft rotatesin the sleeve E, which is provided with the arms ee, forming a yoke,swinging upon the shaft O. The other end of the shaft D is sustained inthe oscillating box d, and is provided with a wheel, d2, having strongteeth upon its periphery.

Upon the shaft O are also placed two coneclutches, B B, whose outer ordriven parts, b b, have miter-gears out upon them. These outer gearedparts are placed lat such distance from each other that both are inconstant engagement with the miter-gear W on shaftw. The external conesor driving parts of the clutches are placed at a somewhat greatervdistance apart than the driven parts, and are lnoved upon the shaft Cby the fork-carrier V, which moves both driving parts of the cone-clutchin the same direction at the same time, and is actuated by the pinion oand rack o', attached to the fork-carrier V. When the fork-carrier ismoved toward the wheel c the clutch next the y-wheel U Willhave itsparts put in engagement, and will move the gear W in one direction, andif the fork-carrier be moved in the opposite direction the other clutchwill be put in engagement, while the first will be released, and thegear W will be driven in the opposite direction.

On the shaft 'w' is the worm to2, which drives the gear @05 through thegears w3 and w. The gear co5 drives the shaft F, on which are thepinions t t, into which the clutch-gears s s eugage. These clutchesengage with the main drive-wheels S S.

. On the shaft F is also a bevel-gear, driving the shaft R, on whichshaft is a pinion, 1',- which drives the ring-wheel P, which engageswith the pinions p on the axle of the forward drive-wheels, p'. Thering-wheel P is hung and moves on the circular stationary platform P2. Ois a platform moving under this platform, to which are attached theboxes in which the axle o of the front drive-wheels rotates. Attached tothe platform is a rack, o, into which the pinion o2 engages. This pinionis driven by the worm-wheel o3 on shaft o4. The worm-wheel'o3 isactuated by the worm o5. On the axle o are placed one or more wheels, p.When more than one is used they can be connected with the pinion drivenby the ringwheel by a clutch, p3, so that either may be disconnected,ifdesired. These forward drive- Wheels, as also the main drive-wheels, canhave cutting-anges attached to them, to prevent any lateral motion ofthe engine from the draft of the plows.

When it is desirable to move the engine at a faster speed the shaft fwcommunicates its motion to wheel 'L05 through a bevel-pinion and beveland spur Wheels made to be substituted in place of the worm to2 andgears w3 and w', This substitution is effected by taking out thosegears, by removing the shaft on which they rotate from its lug a2 on theframe A, and putting upon it a bevel-Wheel having attached to itapinionwhich engages with wheel wf". This bevel-wheel is driven by a pinion putupon shaft to. By having several sizes of Wheels any required speed maybe obtained.

' Gr is a frame attached to the rear of the eugine-frame, and havin gits greaterlen gth transverse to the direction of motion of the engine.This frame is provided with ways g above and below, in which the endlesschain or rope I moves, passing from the lower to the upper side and fromthe upper to the lower side over the wheels K K. The lower side of theways g have their ends elevated, so that when the plows pass around theWheel K their guidetruck will come into contact with the ways,

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and the plows will have nearly approached their operative positionbefore they enter the soil, and so that the furrow may be begun by theplow gradually, and reaching its maximum depth be continued withoutgreat change in its direction of movement, while at the same time theplow will be sustained and directed by the ways, so that any smallobstruction cannot divert it from its proper path. This chain or rope ismade double, the two parts being connected together by rods or shaftsii, which are provided with wheels or trucks which run in the ways g g,which are formed of channel or E-shaped iron, and therefore have bothoverlapping and underlapping edges. between which the trucks supportingthe plows and chain pass, so that the plow will be rigidly' held andprevented from having its point elevated or depressed by coming incontact with the Soil; for, if the guide-truck to which the plow isattached is retained in position by the under and over lapping edgesot'the ways, it is manifest that the plows must preserve their properdirection and cannot be swerved therefrom. At propcrdistances the chainhas a lugor scraper, k', attached, to remove any dirt which may fallinto the ways g. lt also has upon it plates gi, which prevent the soilwhich may be thrown or brought upfroni entering the chain or ways. Uponthis chain 1 attach plows J J, which',being carried forward by thechain,plow a. furrow as it moves them under the frame, and arriving atthe end will be lifted out of the soil and carried back over the top ofthe frame t0 its other end, where they will descend into the soil andplow another furrow, while the speed of the engine, heilig arranged sothat it will be moved forward the proper distance from the place of thelast entry of the last preceding plow, will begin each new furrow at aproper lateral distance from the one last made. The chain is driven bythe toothed wheel alz on shaft D.

The frame G is provided with guides or ways g8, in which the slidingframe g4 moves. This frame is attached to the frame A by bolts, so thatfor movement from place to place it can be detached, if desired. Bymeans of a screw-shaft, h, the frame G is elevated or lowered inrelation to the frame g4, to adjust the depth of the furrow cut bytheplows J. The

screw-shaft h being attached only to the frame G, the frame g4 can belowered in the ways y, merely dropping away from the end of thescrew-shaft, thus permitting the engine and frame to descend toaccommodate itself to any inequality in the ground.

0n the lower part ot the frame G are lugs y". in which are holes,through which,by means of bolts, it may be attached to wheels likeordinary wagon-wheels, on which it may be transported from place toplace when detached from the frame on which the engine rests. By meansof the same holes there can be attached to it the drnni-whcels H H whenit is in use, and which will support its weight when, from anyinequality in the ground, the engine de scends and it is not desirableto have the plows depressed beyond the depth at which they are set tooperate. These drums are provided with a cuttngdange of greater diameterthan tho drums, which, entering the soil, tend to prevent any lateralmovement of' the engine by reason of the drag of the plows.

The frame G is made hinged at the points l.' k, and the ends g5 can beelevated when the braces 96 are unhooked at their upper ends.

The plows J are adjusted at a small angle to the direction of the chain,to put them in exact line of the furrow, which is not exactly parallelwith the chain.

What I claim as new and ot' my invention 1sl. The combination of theshaft U, clutches B B, shaft if', shaft T, elutchgears s s, andtraction-wheels S S, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a traction-engine, carrying upon it a, frameplaced transversely to the direction of the engine, whose length is asgreat as any one furrow plowed by the plows driven hy the engine, theframe being provided on its lower side with ways whose ends are wardmovement and guided by the ways hefore it begins its furrow,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a traction-engine, of a traverse-frame providedwith ways, with which guide-plates, to which plows are attached, comeinto contact before the plows enter the soil, and which have upper andlower flanges to preserve the guide-plates in proper line of movement,substantially as described.

4. The combination, with an endless chain carrying plows upon it aroundand over guideways, ot' guard-plates to prevent the soil from fallinginto the ways, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with an endless chain carrying plows guided bychanneled ways, of 1 ro elevated, so that `theplow shallbe upon its for-IOO

